Classic car stolen from pastor's garage while he was at church

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. - Clayton County Police are looking for two men in an SUV who stole a one-of-a-kind classic car from a metro Atlanta pastor. Donnie Skidmore restores classic cars when he's not ministering at his church, and he's been working on a 1968 Pontiac Firebird for a friend for the past several years.

"They call it a labor of love, and once you begin building that relationship and building that car, it becomes more than just a car," Skidmore said. "It becomes a family member, it becomes part of your life."

He had helped install tens of thousands of dollars in upgrades to the Firebird making it worth between fifty and sixty thousand dollars.

On Wednesday when Skidmore and his family were at church, two men broke into his garage and towed the car away. The car does not start or drive. Surveillance video shows the men attached it to a rope or chain and dragged it away.

Skidmore said he is sick over the theft, and calling his friend to tell him that his car was gone was excruciating. "In the car world, your car becomes like a family member, so to have to call a friend and tell him one of his family members is gone and to have to bring that reality to him...it's very difficult," Skidmore said.

Skidmore describes the two men responsible as white males between 5'8" and 5'10". One of them left a show in Skidmore's yard, and he says he hopes that helps police identify the men involved.

Skidmore's surveillance video also captured the men driving off towing the white Pontiac Firebird down McDonough Road on July 18. He describes their car as a dark blue or black SUV with a blue elementary school style sticker on the back bumper.

Anyone with information is asked to call police immediately.